Auchenstroan Coloured Ryelands
We are Adrian and Nicole Doyle and this is our web site where we show our life on our small holding and showcase the products that we sell.
We are delighted to offer a range of handmade felted fleece rugs, also known as “sheep-friendly sheepskin rugs” and “vegetarian sheepskin rugs”. We also offer handmade felted fleece cushions. These are made from the wool (not the sheepskin) from a both our own sheep and those of neighbouring farms. No animal is harmed in the process. You can buy them from our shop. Please note, due to recent popularity of the rugs, we have struggled to keep up with demand so, if you find the shop empty, just read the shop updates to find out when new rugs will be added.
We also have copies of Adrian’s books “This Smallholding Life” (about the balance between time, money and work on a modern smallholding ) and “Dogs Talk” (dogs talk about their lives and what made things better for them) available in our shop (paperback – UK only) or via Amazon (paperback and ebook).
Latest Stories from Auchenstroan
Since moving here, we have been slowly expanding the woodland coverage. The goal is to create an area that can be coppiced thus providing a supply of wood and also a haven for wildlife. In the late autumn, we took delivery of around 400 trees (bare root) and quickly heeled them in to protect the […]
We ordered some different bales of hay recently and our first thought was, would the sheep eat it? Sheep are creatures of habit and can be quite fussy with their hay. They prefer the softer variety rather than the stalky hay, and they like it fresh and sweet smelling, (well that is understandable, who wouldn’t)? […]
Winter on the smallholding is all about keeping our woolly friends fed, watered and mucked out. The beginning of November marks the start of the “big hay ceremony”. This means that every morning and evening we fill the feeders up with fresh hay while the sheep mill around “helping” – which roughly translates to them […]
As they days shorten and the night draws in, the autumn harvest is coming to a close. The onions are all tied up in onion strings. We had a much better crop this year, netting them off helped stop the birds digging them up. As ever, those grown from seed soon caught up with the […]
After eight months of writing, re-writing, editing, re-reading and proof checking, I am pleased to say I have finally published my second book “Dogs Talk – Four Dogs Tell Their Stories”. The original idea actually came from a journal kept a few years ago by a dog called Kika. Kika came to stay with us […]
As autumn turns into winter and the harvest is complete, our focus turns to winter jobs. These are mostly maintenance to the walls and fences. There are a number of gaps where previous owners have taken down stone dykes for one reason or another and they look kind of wrong, for want of a better […]
We have two dogs here, George and Haribo and both have a number of pet names. For example, George is often called “G” and Haribo “H”. Haribo also gets called “Bot”. This is a shortened version of “Haribot” which was spawned during the period Britain had the “maybot” as prime minister. Anyway, recently, Haribo(t) has […]
From time to time I am asked if I run courses on making felted fleece rugs. Last year I pondered hosting courses here on our smallholding. The trouble is, I wasn’t sure how I would best be able do this because the method I use to make these rugs is quite time consuming. Each rug […]
Two weeks ago our dear brave hennie Bim, passed away to the Great Hen Run in the Sky. Bim was a remarkable hen, she lived a whole year and a half longer than predicted since developing a serious condition called “egg yolk peritonitis”. Basically this meant that every time Bim laid an egg, the yolk […]
As anyone who has read my book might now realise, it’s hard keeping up with everything on a smallholding. This is particularly true as we both have to work to pay the bills. A while back, I mentioned this loss of control of some of the veggie patches in a blog entry – Taking back […]
If you are squeamish or having dinner, this story may not be for you😳 As some of you may already know from following our stories, one of our woolly girls, Vera, has been plagued by “the itchies” all summer. She has developed photosensitisation due to (most likely) eating a plant containing an alkaloid which then […]
As lots of you know who visit our page, I take on commissions as well as selling things from our shop. I’m mainly asked to make rugs for people but sometimes I get more unusual requests, for example, recently a lady with her own flock of sheep asked me to make some cushions from her […]
Reviews
If you would like to send us a review, please email us your comments or send them via our contact page, many thanks.
Review for sheep friendly rugs
5/5 – beautiful!
Posted by Julie Eckstrom on 25th February 2021
They are absolutely beautiful — I keep finding more and more depth in them every time I look at them. And they feel incredible, especially on cold toes in the morning! Thank you so much for these treasures!
Review for felted fleece rug
5/5 – thank you
Posted by Jess Dobkin on 3rd February 2021
Thanks again and again to you and your sheep. This rug is such a special gift for a special occasion that will be treasured for a very long, long time
Review for felted fleece rug – soft cream curls
5/5 – thank you
Posted by Julie McCoy on 16th September 2020
Thank you for my beautiful rug, I am absolutely delighted with it!! It goes perfectly in my room and is so lovely and soft…
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